Ex-DOJ USec Baraan denies link to Bilibid drug trade

MANILA, Philippines  (Philippines News Agency) – Former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III on Wednesday denied having any links to the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City.

"I respect our president, but I am powerless before him. All I ask is fairness and due process, a chance to vindicate myself in a formal proceeding. If a complaint will be filed, so then I will have the opportunity to present my side," Baraan said.

"All I can say now is that this is something I totally cannot imagine myself being involved in; it contradicts the deepest Christian values I hold dear. I know myself, and in due time the truth will prevail," he added.

He also clarified that the Bureau of Corrections was just one of several DOJ agencies under his limited administrative supervision. The other agencies were the Board of Pardons and Parole, Parole and Probations Administration, and Office of the General Corporate Counsel, among others.

"As Usec (undersecretary) having limited administrative supervision of BuCor as bureau, I did never oversee, either on the ground or from a distance, the prison operations in BuCor's seven penal colonies, more so the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. As wrongly reported, I was not Usec in charge of the Bilibid. This is a total misconception," he noted.

Baraan said a typical day in his DOJ office included processing folders of BuCor contracts and documents endorsed and reviewed by Technical Services,  reviewing the corresponding recommendations, countersigning the action document for the secretary's final signature, attending meetings and receiving foreign guests.

On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that Malacañang is in possess of a matrix that shows the alleged role of former Justice secretary now Sen. Leila de Lima in the so-called "Muntinlupa Connection" being run out of the New Bilibid Prisons. Duterte reiterated on Wednesday that Baraan is included in the matrix.

"Baraan is a key player diyan at yang si Dayan ( drug matrix)," Duterte said Wednesday in his speech at Camp Geronimo Cabrera, Taytay, Rizal.

The president said that De Lima is the highest ranking public official in the matrix, which he intends to divulge to the public in a week’s time.

When pressed by media if he was referring to Baraan as the DOJ official whose name appears in the matrix, Duterte said, “Yes.”

The president also mentioned Baraan as a bag man in the national penitentiary and claimed the latter allowed the manufacturing of “shabu,” or methamphetamine hydrochloride in NBP. – PNA with a report from Philstar.com/Rosette Adel